Frozen-food retailer Iceland Foods has announced significant steps to enhance animal welfare across its supply chain, focusing on both its prawn- and egg-sourcing activities.

The retailer has committed to eliminating eyestalk ablation – a procedure to induce faster reproduction in prawns, whereby one or both of the eyestalks are removed – from its own-label prawn supply by the end of 2027, and transitioning to electrical stunning, aligning with the industry best practices adopted by other UK retailers, such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s and M&S.

This initiative follows collaborative work between Iceland’s technical team and its suppliers to ensure a smooth transition that preserves product quality and affordability while advancing responsible farming practices.

Furthermore, Iceland Foods is increasing its range of prawns certified by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), targeting 100% independent verification of its own-label range to this higher standard by 2026.

This accelerated timeline for removing eyestalk ablation also supports the ASC certification.

By 2027, the frozen-food retailer will implement electrical stunning across all its own-label prawn products, subject to the verification of its welfare benefits.

Cage-Free Eggs

In a related but separate commitment, Iceland Foods has reaffirmed its goal to transition to cage-free eggs, setting a new target date of June 2027 for its entire egg supply chain.

This decision, aligning with the company’s focus on affordability, comes after supply chain disruptions and the cost-of-living crisis rendered its original 2025 deadline unachievable.

Iceland Foods added that it will roll out an affordable, higher-animal-welfare-standard barn egg option across all stores by January 2026.

This move builds on the recent introduction of RSPCA-assured barn eggs in 35 stores, expanding the range of higher-welfare egg choices alongside existing free-range lines.

While the retailer is currently the fourth-largest retailer of caged eggs in the UK, sales of these eggs have decreased by nearly 15% in the past year.

Stuart Lendrum, director of product, packaging and sustainability at Iceland Foods, highlighted the importance of long-term supplier collaboration and meaningful improvements in animal welfare and environmental responsibility, which build on Iceland’s broader ‘Doing it Right’ sourcing values.

Lendrum acknowledged the challenge of balancing animal welfare with affordability and noted that the introduction of barn eggs represents a significant step towards providing affordable higher-welfare options.